


The Right Choice

by Briar_Rose7



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: But another way things might have gone, F/M, not exactly a fix-it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-03
Updated: 2016-12-03
Packaged: 2018-09-06 06:16:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8737981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Briar_Rose7/pseuds/Briar_Rose7
Summary: Belle's pregnancy has been sped up, and Rumple is determined to see his child. Will Belle give him a chance to? At what price?





	

**Author's Note:**

> So, I really don't know where this comes from, nor why I keep writing stuff at breakneck speed (for my standards, at least).  
> I just wanted Rumple to hold his child. Is that too much to ask?  
> Thanks to [ stillsearching47 ](http://archiveofourown.org/users/stillsearching47/pseuds/stillsearching47) for being my beta!

The protection spell surrounding the convent blew, easily destroyed by Rumplestiltskin’s magic. The spell had been strong, so strong that it had taken him far too long to break it, but no fairy magic was a match for his powers anymore. 

He strode into the building, effortlessly stopping every fairy that tried to get in his way. As he’d expected, Blue was standing right outside the room where Belle was giving birth. He could hear Belle screaming from behind the closed doors, and that only made him more determined.

“Step back, Crocodile, you’ve already caused her enough pain,” Hook said menacingly. Rumplestiltskin had barely even noticed the pirate was in the room. If they really believed that he was in any way a match for the Dark One, then they were even dumber than he’d ever thought. 

“No one asked for your opinion,” Rumplestiltskin said as he sent the pirate crashing into the wall. He used his magic to tie him up, just to be sure that he wouldn’t cause any more distractions, then turned to face the annoying fairy.

“You shouldn’t be here. She doesn’t _want_ you to be here,” Blue said, her face a cold mask of disgust. 

“That’s my son she’s giving birth to. I have every right to be here, so get out of my way,” he snarled. 

He heard Belle scream again, and he tried to set his worry for her aside as the battle began. He was stronger than Blue, but she had many annoying tricks up her sleeve. Pixie dust couldn’t stop him, but it could still slow him down, and the fairy was really hard to hit when she shrunk down until she was barely a few inches tall. 

In the end, however, even the Blue Fairy ended up on the floor, unconscious. Rumplestiltskin walked past her, entering the room where Belle was giving birth.

Her eyes filled with terror when she saw him.

“No, NO! Stay away from me!” she screamed.

The despair in her voice hurt him more than he ever thought possible. He knew that kind of fear too well, the agonizing realization that your child was in danger but you were powerless to help them. _He_ was the one scaring Belle out of her wits, and he sadly wondered how they’d come to this.

“Belle, I didn’t do anything, I just wanted to be here for-“ 

His explanation was interrupted by Emma throwing a powerful spell at him. 

“You’ve heard her. Get out,” the Savior said. 

Rumplestiltskin looked once again at Belle, her face covered in tears as she kept pleading for him to leave. The fight died in him, as he realized just how badly he’d ruined things once again. He’d just wanted to be there for his son’s birth. He’d been so afraid that Belle wouldn’t let him see his son, and so angry that everyone was trying to stop him, that he hadn’t realized just how painful and scary this had to be for her. 

He left the room, his head spinning at the thought of all the things that had gone wrong, that _he_ had done wrong. 

Hook had managed to get out of his restraints, while the Blue Fairy was still unconscious. Rumplestiltskin felt the burning need to let his despair out, to go back to his shop and smash everything he could get his hands on, but he couldn’t leave, not yet. 

“Well, what did you think, that she’d welcome you and hold your hand as she gives birth to her son? Not after what you’ve just done,” Hook said defiantly.

_Kill him,_ whispered a dark voice inside Rumplestiltskin’s head. _Kill the man who has always enjoyed ruining your life. Kill him and we’ll see if he gloats about your unhappiness ever again._ Rumplestiltskin had been tempted to listen to that voice more than once in his lifetime. Today, however, he’d already made too many mistakes; he wouldn’t make another.

“I didn’t do anything,” he said instead. 

“Sure, I bet it was Granny. I guess it’s easy to mistake aging magic for tea,” Hook replied sarcastically. “No one had any interest in doing this besides you.”

“Yet it happened while I wasn’t present and, despite my alleged magical intervention, my son is being born without me. Do you really think you would have had the time and possibility to bring her here if I had sped up her pregnancy?” Rumplestiltskin replied bitterly. Everything about this birth was so terribly _wrong_. At least, arguing with the pirate was a good way to let out part of his anger without causing any damage.

“Well, even if we accept that you didn’t do it, you still have to stay away from Belle and her child. You will not use those shears on him,” Killian said.

“That’s _my_ child just as much as Belle’s, and if it’s really this that’s worrying you all so much, here,” he said as he took the shears out of the magic pocket in his jacket. “You can have them. I don’t care about them, I just want a chance to raise my child,” Rumplestiltskin said as he tossed the shears at Hook’s feet. 

Killian picked them up, skeptical. 

“How do I know they’re the real ones?” he asked. 

“Use them on yourself for all I care. I’m tired of wasting my breath talking with you,” Rumplestiltskin replied. 

The room fell into silence, an uncomfortable quiet only broken by Belle’s screams coming from behind the doors. Rumplestiltskin felt empty, like his heart had been crushed to dust, leaving him with an unbearable void in his chest. He leaned heavily against the wall and closed his eyes, losing track of time. He felt Blue waking up at a certain point, and listened to her and Hook talking. He needed to be ready to fight if they decided to try and kick him out. Luckily, they didn’t, and he kept waiting in silence.   

He only opened his eyes again when he heard his son crying for the first time. Blue and Hook rushed into the other room, leaving him alone with his contrasting feelings. Time seemed to slow down as he waited for something to happen. Finally, Blue peeked out of the doors.

“Emma has confirmed that the shears you gave us are the real ones. Belle has agreed to talk to you, but don’t try anything strange or you’ll regret it,” she said.

Rumplestiltskin followed her inside the other room, only to be stopped right after he’d passed the door. 

“Don’t come any closer. Whatever you need to tell me, you can tell me from there,” Belle said from her bed. 

Rumplestiltskin’s heart stopped in his chest; Belle was holding his son, _their_ son, and he itched to get closer, to take him in his arms and never let go. He needed to control himself, however, or he’d lose the one chance he had to make things right.

“I didn’t cause this, I swear. I’m ashamed that I ever thought of speeding up your pregnancy, but I came to my senses this morning, when we talked. I never wanted to hurt you or our child. I just want to see him,” he explained, hoping she’d see the honesty in his words. 

“Why should I believe you?” she asked. 

He’d expected that reaction, and he knew what to do. 

“Take this,” he said as he pulled his dagger out of his jacket. “You can use it to force me to tell you the truth. Then you’ll know if I just lied or not,” he said. He took a step towards her, ready to give her the dagger, but Emma got in his way. 

“Give it to me. I don’t want you to get too close to them until we have this sorted out,” she ordered.

“All due respect, Miss Swan, but the last time you had the power of the Dark One in your hands, you almost killed both me and my wife, so excuse me if I don’t trust you. I’ll only give this to Belle,” he snarled at the Savior. Once upon a time he’d admired her strength and her unrelenting desire to help the underdogs, but most of that respect was shattered by now. 

“Don’t worry, Emma, I’ve got this,” Belle said. She was visibly tired, but there was steel in her voice and no more fear in her eyes.

Rumplestiltskin slowly made his way towards her, trying to appear as unthreatening as possible. Belle desperately wanted to believe him. He’d given them the shears, after all, and earlier that day he’d agreed not to speed up her pregnancy. She wanted to believe that he was being honest, that the man she’d loved and married was finally coming back to her after losing himself to the darkness. 

“Belle, please, I just want a chance as a father,” he pleaded as he handed over the dagger. It took her a moment to find a way to hold it while not letting go of their son, but eventually she managed it. Rumplestiltskin knew that he was taking a big risk by giving her control over him, but he had no other choice. This was the only way she could be convinced of his good intentions.

With her son’s safety at stake, however, Belle wasn’t willing to take any risks. 

“Rumplestiltskin,” she said as soon as her hand closed around the dagger’s handle. “I command you to leave this room, and never come looking for this child again.”

Had she stabbed him in the heart with the same dagger, Rumplestiltskin would have felt less pain. 

“Belle, _please_ , don’t make me do this,” he begged as he stammered backwards. He tried to fight the ominous command, but to no avail. He started crying, not caring anymore about other people seeing him break down, because all that mattered now was that he was never going to see his son again, that his only memory of him would always be the glimpse he’d gotten as he gave Belle the dagger…

He never stopped begging her as he slowly made his way towards the door, but her resolve never faltered. She held the dagger as a shield against him, and he could sense her feelings through it, he could feel her command being repeated in her mind over and over again. 

When the door closed behind him, he started sobbing helplessly, feeling as devastated as he’d felt when Belle had banished him from Storybrooke.

That’s when he felt another command coursing through him. Belle was _summoning_ him. He teleported inside the room once again, looking at her flabbergasted. 

“I’m sorry I put you through that, but I needed to know the dagger wasn’t a fake. I gave you the one command I thought you’d never pretend to obey,” Belle explained.

Rumplestiltskin couldn’t really blame her. He could see why she was scared of him giving her a fake.

“So, I can come looking for our child then? I need you to lift the command out loud if that’s the case,” he said as he tried to regain his composure and wiped away his tears. There was a time when he would have felt humiliation at showing such weakness in front of Hook and the fairies, but he no longer cared. 

“Rumplestiltskin, I cancel my command on not looking for our child ever again. You will be able to see him, as long as I deem it safe for him. Now I command you to tell me the truth. All of it; no loopholes this time.”

Rumplestiltskin shuddered as the new command coursed through him. He didn't want to lie to her anyway, but being controlled with the dagger was never a pleasant sensation. Not that she would know, since he’d never told her. 

“Did you speed up my pregnancy?” she asked.

“No. I’m not proud of what I threatened to do to you, but you made me realize the mistake I was making. I didn’t use the aging magic on you,” he answered. 

“Then who did it?”

“I have no proof, but I believe it was the Queen.”

“Why would she do that? Aren’t the two of you working together?” Belle inquired, suspiciously. Could he have toyed with words again, swearing that it hadn’t been him just because he’d asked someone else to do it?

“We had a really strong… disagreement today. I guess she was trying to get back at me. We’re not working together anymore,” he said. His ‘alliance’ with the Queen had possibly been his lowest point, and now Belle had paid the price for it. Even though he hadn’t directly used magic on her, what had happened was his fault. He’d never forgive himself for that.

“What did you two disagree about?” 

Rumplestiltskin sighed before answering, knowing that Belle wouldn’t like the answer. 

“I asked her to kill Zelena. She didn’t and then things got a little messy.”

Belle shook her head, as if she couldn’t find the words to describe just how much this answer had disappointed her, how much _he_ had disappointed her. He took advantage of her silence to speak again. Recently he’d done many things he was ashamed of, but trying to kill Zelena would never be one of them.

“Belle, look at me and for once let _me_ ask _you_ a question. Look at our son, and tell me: if Zelena walked in right now and killed him, would you be ready to forgive her? If you had to watch helplessly as your son died in your arms, would you really never wish death upon the woman who caused it all to happen? If said woman never showed any kind of remorse for what she did, and instead kept taunting you about it, would you be happy seeing her with a child of her own, a child that is safe and sound in her mother’s arms? Would you really be glad that she’s living, when every breath she takes is an offense to your child, because every moment she lives is another moment that your son will never live? If your answer is yes, then you can judge me, but I’ll honestly start wondering about how much you really care about our son.”

Rumplestiltskin was breathless when he finished talking, and Belle looked at him with a mixture of contrasting feelings on her face. She was unconsciously clutching her son closer to her chest as she tried to wrap her mind around what her husband had just said. His questions were dangerous, and Belle was scared of what her answer might be. She didn’t want to think about that, not now.

“Let’s leave Zelena aside for now. You shall never use magic on me or our son ever again,” she commanded.

“Belle, please, at least allow me to do it if you’re in danger. I need to be able to help you,” he pleaded.

“You shall not use magic on me or our son,” she repeated. “Unless we’re openly asking for your help, with or without using the dagger,” she conceded. It wasn’t much, but it was something. 

“May I now?” Rumplestiltskin asked, nodding at his son. 

Belle racked her brain, trying to think of anything she might have forgotten. She was tired, both physically and emotionally, but she needed to stay lucid for her son’s sake.

“Yes,” she told him at last. “But you’ll never try to take him away from me,” she ordered.

“I would never do that. I know that he needs both his parents to be happy,” Rumplestiltskin couldn’t stop the slight bitterness in his words. Belle’s attempt at taking his child away from him still hurt him deeply. 

Finally, Rumplestiltskin sat on the side of the bed, stretching out his arms to take hold of his son. His breath caught in his throat as he touched him for the first time. New tears welled up in his eyes, but this time they were tears of joy.

“Hello, little one. I’m sorry for scaring you and your mama so much, but I promise I’ll never do that again. I’ll be the best papa I can be, I swear,” he murmured as he kissed his son’s head. “What’s his name?” he asked Belle. 

She didn’t answer right away. Seeing Rumplestiltskin with their child had caused a lump to form in her throat, because no matter how scared or how angry she’d been, she still loved him. Seeing him with their child reminded her of why she’d fallen in love with him, of the kindness and love he’d always shown to his family, and that thought scared her. It scared her because deep down in her heart she knew that she was still ready to fall back into his arms, and that had always only caused her to be hurt again. She needed to be more careful this time around, to keep her distance as long as it was needed, for both hers and her son’s sake.

“What’s our son’s name?” he repeated, bringing her out of her reverie. 

“Gideon,” she blurted out. “I mean, I thought of naming him Gideon. Do you… do you like it?” Despite all they’d been through in the last few days, despite her lingering fear, she knew that Rumplestiltskin deserved a say in his child’s name.

“Like the hero in your favorite book. I like it,” he said smiling. 

“You remembered,” she said, surprised. 

“Of course I did, Belle.”

_I remember everything about you,_ he thought. It was so much like her to name their child after a fictional character, and he smiled at the thought.

“Gideon Gold. It has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it, little one?” he told his child.

Rumplestiltskin never wanted to let go of him. He felt as though he could have spent the rest of his life holding him, looking at him, kissing his hands, his face, his feet. In that moment he didn’t care about his fears, his magic, the shears or his dagger. They could give it to Zelena for all he cared; he’d gladly be her slave forever as long as he could still take care of his son, as long as he could still hold him close and be called his papa. 

He turned around to look at Belle, and he realized she was smiling, her eyes shining with tears. She was happy for them, for their family, for the chance she’d given him.

It wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t what he’d imagined, but it was definitely better than what he’d feared. 

This was a new beginning. 


End file.
